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Twitter photo of state Senate candidate stirs up questions By Matthew Watkins matthew.watkins@ theeagle.com Posted: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 7:00 a.m. Text size: A A A Tweet Email Print Texas Senate candidate Charles Schwertner, who caused a stir withthis photo of him in front of a Texas A&M System plane, did not usethe plane for political purposes, officials said. Special to TheEagle A picture posted last week on Twitter and Facebook by Texas Senatecandidate Charles Schwertner caused slight confusion after it gavesome the false impression that he used a plane owned by the TexasA&M University System to attend a political event. In reality, Schwertner, a Republican state representative fromGeorgetown, saw the airplane on the runway of his hometown airportand had his picture taken in front of it, according to an officialwith his campaign. The picture was posted Friday with the caption: "Gettingready to head to Huntsville for an event tonight...wheels up in 10!#sd5 #tcot #txgop." On Monday, a Schwertner spokesman acknowledged that the picture mayhave given a false impression, but said Schwertner has never flownon an Aggie plane. "I can tell you unequivocally he wasn't on that plane,"said Keats Norfleet. A&M System spokesman Steve Moore confirmed that after officialsreviewed the plane's flight logs. The Eagle was asked to file anopen records request for those documents. "It might have been poor judgment [to post the picture], butnothing nefarious," Moore said. The plane was in Georgetown to pick up Schwertner's cousin, JimSchwertner, who is a member of the A&M System Board of Regents,Moore said. Jim Schwertner was heading to Texarkana for theSaturday commencement ceremonies at the A&M System's campus inthe city, Moore said. System policy allows regents and other A&M personnel to use theplane in instances where there are no commercial routes available.No airliners fly from Georgetown to Texarkana. State employees are allowed to fly on A&M planes, but state lawprohibits them from attending political functions in the areas towhich they are flown. Employees also are banned from using theplane for personal use. Regents' plane use was closely scrutinized in the '90s, whenthen-chairman Ross Margraves was indicted on charges of officialmisconduct after he and his wife used an A&M plane to fly totheir son's graduation at Louisiana State University. He wasconvicted on a felony charge and later received a pardon fromthen-Gov. George W. Bush. In Huntsville, Charles Schwertner attended a fundraiser for U.S.Senate candidate David Dewhurst. Schwertner's primary opponent forthe District 5 senate seat, Ben Bius, also was at the function,according to an attendee. Schwertner's picture is the second time a picture has causedconfusion during the District 5 campaign. In April, Bius included apicture of himself with A&M President R. Bowen Loftin on apolitical mailing, prompting a request from A&M officials forBius to clarify that he didn't have the endorsement of Loftin.A&M employees aren't allowed to endorse candidates. Biusdeclined to comment for this story. Election day in the Texas primaries is May 29. Early voting hasalready begun. I am an expert from structural-steelbuilding.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Cold Rolled Steel Coil , Metal Truss Buildings Manufacturer, Aircraft Hangar Buildings,and more.
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